Are Mom Bloggers the New Spokespeople?

Having launched this website in mid-2006 I have seen and participated in the evolution of the social media landscape. In 2006, bloggers didn’t get the respect they deserved from journalists and corporate America alike. That is, until those guys realized that bloggers ranking higher in Google than them and had much higher engagement in terms of discussion on their blogs than the brands did one the “community” pages of their sites. Then in 2008, it was the power tweeters who finally earned the respect of bloggers when Twitter became a crucial player during the protests to the Iranian election. Yeah, that’s been a fun trend to watch emerge.
Also, it’s no longer new news that mom bloggers have amassed the scale of voice and attention by the mainstream press and corporate America once reserved only for the technology bloggers. With that has come press access to high-profile events, commonplace appearances by mom bloggers on national morning talk shows as well national print periodicals citing these mom writers as expert sources. Huzzah, indeed!
So, what’s next?
I am seeing a trend in spokesperson opportunities for mom bloggers and, I, too, have taken upon that work for companies such as VTech Kids (I am on the advisory council) and Little Debbie Snacks (more on both below).
Last week, eMarketer published some statistics that confirm that brands and marketers would do well to hire well-trusted website publishers, over celebrities in fact, as they are ranked high as trusted sources to gather information.
See how a blogger ranks ahead at 2.9 and a well-known celebrity at 2.2? High-fives all around.
In the case of my experience with Little Debbie, I was hired for a couple of hours in NYC to help them launch their Share-a-Thon campaign (for which they are also advertising on this website). Little Debbie is going around the country handing out their new free cupcakes (four years in development, yo) to strangers on the streets.
Having never done this before, it’s surprisingly fun to ask strangers “How about I trade you a cupcake for a smile?” People, that line totally works! We gave away hundreds of cupcakes in no time. And, I got New Yorkers in busy midtown to smile at me. Win-win.
For VTech Kids, my role includes being on their Advisory Council and writing regularly for their monthly newsletter, all of which I immensely enjoy.
So, back to my bloggers as spokespeople thoughts…. I think we’re going to see more of this either through long-term relationships (like mine with VTech Kids) or via short-term campaign-based opportunities. And, I think it’s fabulous. I think it’s great that marketers recognize the value web-based personalities and experts can bring to a campaign and are compensating them for it.
On our end, as bloggers become spokespeople, we have a responsibility to not steer from our editorial guidelines and moral compass. We have stated clearly that at Alpha Mom we turn down advertising of products that I personally wouldn’t consider buying for my family and my standards are even higher if I am asked to do spokesperson work.
I am very excited to see how this trend unfolds!

First of all- how cute are you in your coat and trademark glasses in that pic? You have such a wonderful ability to put things into perspective and keep both bloggers and marketers on our toes. Now, as far as I’m concerned- I’ll buy ANYTHING you’re attached to!

This is definitely true. I’ve been thinking this day was coming sooner… honestly, it’s taken much longer for brands to catch on than I would’ve thought. Thanks to the success of my video blogs I quit my day job & became a brand ambassador for Weight Watchers 2 years ago. The trick is finding a natural fit, and a great company to partner with who values you & the medium.

I think that it’s smart. As a mom, I usually make buying decisions based on the input from other moms. The trick for marketers though is that it has to be trusted mom bloggers. If potential buyers don’t really think that the bloggers actually use the products that they are promoting, then the endorsement means nothing. (It goes back to being like a celebrity talking about discount products…AS IF they really use them when they are not being paid to do so.)

I think it says something that, on the advice of amalah on this website/amalah.com, I suggested the busy ball popper to my mother as a Christmas gift for my son. They have been around for a while but are selling out everywhere she looks! Did a blogger start the next tickle me Elmo?
Bloggers that are truly honest and open (or at least appear to be) have had a huge effect on my purchasing choices – my friends are all on firstborns as well, so who else are we going to turn to?